Lost in Death Valley: One Family's Horrifying Experience

Death Valley GPS Horror

Donna Cooper, along with her daughter, Gina, and their friend Jenny Leung, intended to take a day trip to a Death Valley museum. On their way out, they approached this intersection named Teakettle Junction. Cooper made a wrong turn and her GPS took them on a three-day nightmare through the hottest place on earth.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

Donna Cooper, along with her daughter, Gina, and their friend Jenny Leung, intended to take a day trip to a Death Valley museum. On their way out, they approached this intersection named Teakettle Junction. Cooper made a wrong turn and her GPS took them on a three-day nightmare through the hottest place on earth.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

In this photo, Donna Cooper's daughter, Gina, takes her turn navigating their Hyundai through Death Valley's dirt roads. "We were kind of like getting aggravated with [our GPS] because [it] was taking us nowhere. It just kept saying 'go this distance and take a turn, go this distance and make a U-turn,' there is nothing there," Donna Cooper told ABC News "2020."

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

With temperatures reaching 121 degrees F in the valley, the lost women were desperate for salvation. Almost out of gas, they wrote "help" on their dusty car, in hopes that someone will find them.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

Out of water and gas, the three women walked toward the cluster of big trees, unaware that just beyond them was a temporary salvation: an abandoned campsite that would provide shade, food and hose water.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

With nothing else to do in the extreme heat but sit and wait, Jenny and Gina relaxed in the shaded campsite. Located in one of the most remote areas of Death Valley, this area would be the last place rescuers would search. Gina told ABC News "2020" that she was beginning to lose hope. "I was, like, I don't want to die here. Nobody's ever going to find us," she said.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

The women heard this California Highway Patrol helicopter overhead and Jenny Leung ran out from the campsite, waving a yellow emergency blanket to attract their attention. Finally, after three long days of being lost, they had been found. "I've never been so happy to see anything in my life," Donna Cooper told ABC News "2020."

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

Here, EMT and CHP pilot Tyler Johns poses for Donna Cooper's camera. "If they were not found that day by us or somebody else they would have perished," Johns told ABC News "2020."

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

Donna Cooper and Jenny Leung received medical attention from their rescuers, California Highway Patrol pilots Tyler Johns and Scott Steele. Johns told ABC News "2020" of their condition at the time. "They were good. Just seeing another human being it just made them feel a lot better," he said.

Courtesy of Donna Cooper

Death Valley GPS Horror

Death Valley GPS Horror

Rather than fly out of Death Valley in the CHP helicopter, Donna Cooper and the girls decided they would wait for gasoline and drive their way out. Finally on their way home, Gina and Jenny posed for one last photo, wearing smiles, tears and a Death Valley t-shirt.